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BY 



Rev. Jas. E. Holder, M. A.; Editor; Edu- 
cator; President, N. C. Academic Contest 
Association ; Institutor of "Interborough 
Contest;" etc. 



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1919 



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BY 



Rev. Jas. E. Holder, M. A.; Editor; Edu- 
cator; President, N. C. Academic Contest 
Association; Institutor of 'Interborough 
Contest;" etc. 



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THE PROBLEM OF AMERICA'S DESTINY 

(Copyright 1919, by Jas. E. Holder) 



The ages as they've rolled apace, 

Have cast down many from their place, 

Right to the ground: 
Someiimes a nation whole is taken, 
And by the hand of judgment shaken, 

Till it's not found. 

The ra-m of God is strong for ever, 

And iherc'? no wrong though hid so clever, 

But that He knows. 
Though v/aits He long till seems He sleeping. 
Yet sure there comes the day of weeping 

F(^r national woes. 



A— via, great, enthroned of old, 

Hcj- treasury filled with wealth of gold 

Exalted State; 
Fell from her height and bit the dust. 
The [rice of haughtiness and lust: 

A .ludgment great! 

Proud Babylon the world did lead; 
She rode astride like man his steed; 

All else her slave : 
She t^imblod off her lofty throne, 
And fell to earth v/ith dying groan. 

And kissed the grave. 



Imperial Rome did hold the sway, 
Hor .star the brightest of the day, 

In war supreme: 
The Angel did her sins record, 
And overthrow was her reward; 

Her day a dream. 

And shall I speak of ancient Greece, 
Whose art and beauty held the lease 

Of leading all? 
Today she sits in humble place, 
Her hand in mourning o'er her face: 

She weeps her fall. 

Of others I may quote the tale, 
Whose power rode o'er mount and vale 

Men stood in dread: 
No\'7, some are prone upon the grouni 
Their wealth and power are not founo. 

While some are dead. 

America — great in this her time, 
Doth sit amid the world sublime, 

In splendor bright: 
Sh^ sits on gold the sun beneath, 
Her brow adorned with diamond wreath 

Of dazzling light. 

Will she who's now so great and tall, 

Be doomed down from that height to fall, 

Like those of old? 
She will — unless her Lord and God 
Be He Who made this earthly sod. 

And not her gold. 



She will — unless a code of right 
Be fixed her guiding star and light 

When justice pleads: 
She will — unless the God above, 
The Father, Son, and Holy Dove, 

Approve her deeds. • 

The histories of the nations give 
The warning that no power can live, 

li God be wroth; 
That when He rises in His strength. 
To bring His vengeance down at length. 

Proud man's a moth. 

Lo, Germany! With cruel hand, 
She sought the sway o'er every land, 

In vaunted strength: 
Hor Kultur boast and Teuton greed. 
Have brought her down with double speed ; 

She's stretched her length. 

And now no nation is so poor. 
To sit a suppliant at her door; 

None fear her name : 
For she who once was clothed in steel, 
l^ forced before her foes to kneel. 

And bear her shame. 

America — so great today. 

Must righteous be, not boastful say 

She stands secure; 
With riches great on every side, 



If righteousness give way to pride, 
She'll not endure. 

If God is all forgot in gold, 
America's heart to wealth be sold, 

High heaven sees; 
And soon the sentence may be sought, 
To have the ingrate nation brought 

Down to her knees. 

If pride the nation's heart inflate. 
And boast is shouted from her gate, 

The Fates are near; 
And in their time will turn the tide, 
Or which is built the nation's pride, 

To anxious care. 

If justice is denied the poor, 
The Negro race within her door, 

Their Father knows; 
And some day He will straight demand 
A reckoning at her unjust hand, 

And down she goes. 

The God that rules from heaven above, 
Includes the Negro in His love, 

And writes each name; 
He hears the white mob's fiendish shout, 
As it installs a lynching bout, 

With Negro "game." 

And to the NATION'S name at large, 
The crime of murder He doth charge; 
All hands are pooled : 

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The NATION rules, and should restrain 
The mob, or on HER rests the stain ; 
God can't be fooled. 

The judges' courts from shore to shore. 
Should dea] injustice, too, no more. 

To th' Negro race; 
Or God will some day bare His arm. 
And fill the country with alarm, 

And judge her case. 

The double justice that is found. 
That deals with men on color ground, 

Is inspired by hell. 
God will not then His favor give 
For ever — lo let the nation live, 

V/e know too well. 

God rules the earth with single code, 
M«n, white or black or any mode, 

Justice is Supreme: 
And judges who their Maker cross, 
Bi't do so at the NATION'S loss: 

This is no dream. 

The plea of STATE RIGHTS* won't avail, 
A quibble with neither head nor tail. 
When God is judge: 

*In reply to a letter on the lynchings written by Mr. 
Chas. Douglns3 of Plainfield, N. J., Mr. Claude R. Port- 
er, Assistant Attorney General, writing "for the -Attor- 
ney General" on May 24, 1919, said "In reply, you are 
advised that under the decision of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, this is a subject matter which lies 
within the jurisdiction of the several States and not 
within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government." 



To say each State must stand alone, 
When God ascends the judgment throne, 
Is so much fudge. 

The States all stand a solid whole; 
Tho5' play a single nation's role; 

One flag's unfurled: 
So too, as one, they'll plead their cause, 
And answer to God's righteous laws 

Before the world. 

So mayn't we hope that soon the thought. 
May to the nation's heart be brought, 

God soon may move? 
For if the nation will not reflect. 
All such offense 'gainst Negro sect, 

Will direful prove. 

May wickedness, in all its guise. 
Hypocrisy — with all its lies, 

Far hence remove; 
May cruelty on every hand. 
Injustice too, throughout the land, 

All vanished prove. 

Mav pride that would God's wrath provoke, 
And all that tempts His vengeance stroke. 

From her depart; 
May hate ibat would one race enslave, 
More dreadful than the dreaded grave. 

Flee from her heart. 

Then God would fuller blessings pour. 
Into her hands and on her shore. 



In treasures great; 
Then heaven would higher favors bring, 
From Him Who rules as God and Fing, 

T' exalt her state. 




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